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Original · left

Fishing

The leisure sport or livelihood of catching water-dwelling vertebrates using bait, hooks, or nets.

First in use: ancient / pre-modern
Duplicate · right

Phishing

A deceptive social-engineering attack where malicious actors impersonate trusted institutions to steal private passwords and account credentials.

First in use: c. 1995

Phish / Fishing / Phishing

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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Catching fish vs. catching passwords.

Which meaning of Phish is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Fishing came first (ancient / pre-modern). Phishing arrived in 1995. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

FishingPhishing
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · ancient / pre-modern

Fishing

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Duplicate · c. 1995

Phishing

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More duplicated terms

Cybersecurity